Reunions part 2: Dreaming Inspiration
by Sylmarien
Summary: Mercury sees an interesting sculpture at the Year 13 Leavers Ceremony. Who made it and what affect will it have on her and her friends lives? AU r
1. Music

**Disclaimer: I did not create any of the characters in this story they all belong to Clamp.**

Zak dreamed.

_He was floating, no standing on a sheet of ice with snow drifting lazily around him, thick curtains of it obscuring his view of the landscape. In the distance he heard a voice singing. It was a strange melody, somehow utterly familiar as if he'd heard and known it all his life yet his mind told him that this wasn't possible. Haunting him in his daylight hours the woman's pure soprano voice soared through his mind reaching deep into his heart speaking to him of things long forgotten but yearned for nonetheless. He stared through the falling snowflakes discerning a figure in the distance. The snow parted for a brief moment enabling him to see it was a woman, her body shrouded in a veil of snow and light blue silk. She turned towards him her face remaining veiled by the snow however around her neck hung a pendant made of a peculiar blue crystal and on her forehead a mysterious sign glowed. As always as soon as he started towards her she faded back into the storm leaving only the memory of her voice and the sign that glowed in his mind even as he woke._

Zak opened his eyes and groaned as the light shining through the curtains told him that it was morning and he had to get up.

"Why me?" he asked the air, "Nobody else gets weird dreams like I do."

'_Stop complaining_, the little voice in the back of his mind told him, _if it wasn't for those dreams your sculpture design wouldn't be standing in the school courtyard about to be displayed to the world_.'

The little voice had long ago put its name down as the disciplined parent and he the unruly child and he often found he could work up a fair argument with just him and himself. Nevertheless it was true. He'd designed the sculpture based on his dreams and entered it in a competition. The design was a finalist, winning in the final round and its completed form now stood in the courtyard of Crystal College ready to be unveiled at the Year 13's Leaving Ceremony.

"Crap!" he swore "The ceremony!" he glanced at the clock and swore again, he was going to be late.

~*~

Ami slowly picked her way past her friends who were presently strewn across the floor in their numerous sleeping bags on her way to the kitchen. Mouth-watering smells assailed her nose and she grinned in anticipation as she heard Lita humming to herself. Besides being a fierce fighter and devoted friend Lita was also a master chef and from the smells emanating from the pots and pans on the stove-top her next masterpiece was well on its way. As Ami rounded the corner the humming abruptly stopped and the reason why soon became apparent.

"Nathan!" Lita exclaimed as her boyfriend came up behind her and swept her off her feet. "I'm cooking you dolt, if you distract me I'll burn something."

"Now, now you know that's not my real name. Call me by my proper name and I'll think about letting you go."

"Alright Nephrite, but you know I only call you that in private, and here with all the girls sleeping over isn't private! What would Endymi-... Darien say? You know we need to be careful..."

"I know, point taken, but I'm still considering as to whether I'm going to let you go or not." Nephrite said contritely, holding her close "I refuse to lose you again okay. You've got to promise you won't leave me."

Lita laughed and hugged him,

"I promise," she said giving him a kiss before turning in the circle of his arms to finish cooking breakfast. Ami tactfully withdrew and crept back to her sleeping bag. Picking up the book she had started the night before she settled back to wait for the rest of her friends to wake up.

Some time later the tantalising aromas of breakfast wafted into the lounge-room where the girls where sleeping. Serena's nose twitched and she rolled over then slowly opened her eyes to stare sleepily up at Ami.

"Morning," she yawned, "Is that breakfast I smell?"

"Yes it is Serena, and guess who made it?"

"Lita!" Serena scrambled to get out of her sleeping-bag and raced into the dining room but unfortunately her innate clumsiness resulted in her stumbling over every person in the lounge-room and a chorus of complaints rose in her wake.

"Oh stop grumbling you guys and come and eat. Lita's been cooking!" Serena plonked herself down on a chair and gestured for the others to do the same, sharing exasperated glances her friends did so. Within seconds the mood lightened as everyone bit into or drank a delicious mouthful and Lita was greeted with much happier chorus this time as she came out of the kitchen with another jug of milk.

"Lita, you are a genius!" Mina almost swooned as she dug into a plate of perfect waffles, liberally drenched in ice cream and maple syrup and grinned. "I never thought you could surpass the cake you made for Serena's birthday party but you just did girl. I give it 5 stars and 10/10."

Ami had to agree, Lita had indeed cooked up a storm this morning. There was bacon, eggs, waffles, toast –French or normal –pancakes and to top it all off a huge jug of freshly squeezed orange juice and an equally large jug of milk. It was a rare treat for Ami because her mother as a doctor worked odd hours and she usually had to make her own breakfast.

"Thanks guys, I'm just glad we're all together today. It's the last time we'll all be at the same school and I wanted to do something special." Lita blushed as she smoothed her apron in a gesture of embarrassment at her friends' enthusiastic compliments.

"Oh you are so cute when you're embarrassed Lita, your face goes all pink, just like your earrings." Nephrite said adoringly as he leant over and kissed her on her the cheek before she swatted him in response with the serving spoon she was holding.

"Go and get the boys Nephrite or I'll turn _your_ cheeks bright pink," she threatened with a smile before setting the spoon in the honey jar. "Alright guys, breakfast is officially on the table."

"Oh great. I'm starving." Darien exclaimed as he walked in; already showered and dressed like the rest of the boys.

"Yeah me too, thanks for making it Lita. You're the best," Jadeite gave Raye a kiss on the cheek before sitting down and tucking in.

"You're the best cook in the world love and don't you forget it," Nephrite sat down but waited for Darien, his prince, to start before he began eating.

"Don't do that," Darien complained, catching his look "I'm not your prince in this life so you've got to act like I'm just one of your friends."

Nephrite grinned sheepishly, "Sorry Darien old habits die hard."

"I know. Work on it through, okay?"

"You got it."

Breakfast progressed in its usual manner when everyone from the Silver Millennium was present. Talk soon progressed to the past and everyone got to telling tales of what they used to do and how they were glad everyone had found each other so far. Deep down Ami always felt a bit left out during these talks, she still hadn't found Zoicite and her memories of the Silver Millennium were still incomplete because of that. She knew Mina felt the same as she hadn't found Malachite either but it was easier for her to forget that than for Ami.

The others didn't mean to exclude her but it still hurt to see them all happy with their destined partners while she was left to hang in the space between. Quietly she finished breakfast and went to shower and get dressed. Mina, who was the Sailor of Love noticed Ami's withdrawal but knew she couldn't do anything and so let Ami have her privacy as they both grieved for their missing loves.

When everyone had eaten their fill the boys waited for the girls to finish showering and dressing before they all trooped off to Crystal College to attend the School Leavers Ceremony.

With Ami to organise them they arrived early and so got good seats. Ami sat on the end of the row as she was one of the award recipients and it made it easier for her to go up and collect it. Later, staring at her Excellence in Science Award it in wonder she looked out at the crowd of clapping students and parents with a deep sense of pride in her achievement –it was the culmination of all her years of hard work at school and was her ticket to becoming the doctor she dreamed of being. It was strange though that such a small piece of paper could contain her whole future, she held it carefully, nevertheless excited at earning such a prestigious award. The ceremony continued and she returned to her seat, applauding each of her friends in turn as they got up to receive their respective awards. As the ceremony ended Ami thought back over the years she'd spent at Crystal College and wondered if she'd ever come back here one day.

"Ami come on, they're going to unveil the sculpture now." Serena interrupted Ami's thoughts as she grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the Performing Arts Centre out towards the courtyard where the sculpture stood.

In the crush Serena was forced to let go of Ami's hand as they were pushed apart by the crowd.

"I'll meet you on the east corner," Ami called and just saw Serena's nod before she was pushed away.

As the crowd began to spread out into the courtyard Ami breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly she wove her way through the mass of people until she was near the front and had a good view of the sculpture. She spotted Serena and the others not far away and waved but they didn't see her, everyone was focused on the sculpture.

Ami turned her eyes toward the stage as the principal took his place at the podium to make a short speech about the sculpture and the difficulty of sorting through each of the masterpieces that were entered in the competition. Finally with a grand gesture he signalled for the cloth to be pulled away.

As it fell to the ground Ami's eyes went wide with shock. Standing in front of her, sculpted out of blue tinged marble was a stylised version of the Sign of Mercury. Water flowed down and around it pumped out through a small hole at the top making the marble's colours shift beneath it as though the stone itself lived. Falling into a pool at the bottom of the sculpture the water swirled around its foot, rippling over blue stones before being pumped back up to the top.

As she looked at the beautiful work of art in front of her something inside Ami broke and images spiralled in front of her minds-eye causing her to clutch her head in pain. Falling to her knees she gasped as waves of agony surged through her mind then receded, mimicking her heartbeat. A concerned face appeared before her, hands gripping her shoulders, she heard them asking if she was okay but she couldn't answer. Seconds later the pain overwhelmed her and she collapsed helplessly to the ground.

~*~

"Hey, miss are you okay?"

Zak knelt down in front of the blue haired girl who was holding her head while her breath came in short gasps. He touched her shoulder to get her attention and she suddenly went limp, her eyes closing as she fell forward. Startled he was barely able to catch her before she hit the ground. A few people around them moved forward in concern, he waved them back.

"Don't worry she just has a bad headache and a cold," he told them, "It's nothing serious; I'll take her to the nurse's office. You guys enjoy the rest of the ceremony."

A tall dark haired boy came forward, "Are you sure she's alright?" he asked. Zak nodded something inside him telling him that he shouldn't tell everyone the truth but also that this man knew more about what was happening to the girl than he did.

"Yes," he said, "Don't worry I'll take her the infirmary, I've seen the sculpture and been to the ceremony rehearsals so I won't be missing anything. You stay and enjoy the rest of the show."

~*~

Darien, immediately recognising his friend and General of old knew that this was something that was supposed to happen. Using the power of the Golden Crystal inside of him he reached into the boys' mind and felt the sleeping soul of Zoicite close to the surface. _My old friend_ he thought _be patient, you and your love will be together soon_. Retreating back to himself he nodded and held out his hand.

"Alright, I'll come by later to see how she's feeling. I'm Darien by the way."

~*~

"I'm Zak," he shifted slightly the girl to free a hand then shook Darien's hand and watched him disappear back into the crowd. He then carefully gathered the girl up in his arms and made his way through the crowd to the infirmary. People parted before him as they saw the girl but he quickly assured everyone who asked that she just had a bad headache and a cold and had passed out because of the heat of the day.

The nurse wasn't in her office but that was only to be expected as she was at the ceremony as well. Zak gently put the girl into one of the beds and covered her with a blanket. Pulling up a chair he waited for her to regain consciousness.

_She's actually quite pretty_ he thought as he gave her the once over every guy gave a girl the first time he met her. _More than pretty really, she's beautiful._

Her blue hair was cut short, framing her face and he remembered from the fleeting glance she'd given him that her eyes were also that same shade of deep blue. She wasn't too short, she probably only came up to his shoulder but her arms and legs were well defined and implied that though small she was not weak. He picked up one of her hands and felt the calluses on her palm; she was no stranger to work then.

"_You_ are quite the mystery," he told his patient, "You are the smartest girl in the school and get perfect grades on every exam. There's a whole page devoted to you in the yearbook detailing your scholastic achievements but the gossip that flies around school suggests you are even smarter than that," he ticked off the rumours on his fingers, "you never used to talk to anyone until a year ago when you suddenly started hanging out with that girl Serena and her friends yet nobody had ever seen you guys talk together before, you are a Master at Chess and have beaten the World Champion only it was an unofficial match so you got no credit, you are always at least ten chapters ahead in all your classes and you have a rich mother who is a doctor, one would think you were a pampered princess yet you have calluses on your palm that tell me you work hard and often."

"You have no idea," the girl's voice was clear and precise showing no signs of the pain she had experienced earlier. Zak immediately released her hand and jumped to his feet.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I hope I haven't offended you miss. You see you fainted right after the sculpture was revealed and everyone was still watching the ceremony and I didn't want to take someone away from that. So since I've seen the sculpture a million times before and I've been in all the rehearsals I volunteered to take you to the nurse's office." Zak tried to stop his runaway mouth, cursing himself inwardly for his idiocy.

The girl smiled, "Thank you. I'm sorry I made you bring me here. My name is Ami Mizuno, pleased to meet you."

"Uh, I'm, Zak Stone. Pleased to meet you as well," he seated himself again, "May I ask if you know what happened to you? You were in a lot of pain and I wasn't sure if you needed medicine or not."

Ami shook her head, "I think it was just a momentary thing, it's never happened before. But I'm fine now so you don't have to worry," she said with a reassuring smile, "So, you've seen the sculpture a _million_ times have you?" she teased lightly, hoping to divert his attention from her fainting spell.

Zak was mildly surprised that she claimed to be fine only minutes after experiencing pain strong enough to cause her to faint but let it be for the moment, "Yes. I would say so seeing as I designed it."

His answer surprised Ami, and she grew immediately curious of the inspiration behind the sculpture that was so clearly aligned with the sign of Mercury, "Really? That's very interesting. May I ask what inspired the design?"

Zak smiled, pleased with her interest in his art and more than happy to share his thoughts with her, "I dreamt it, if you can believe that."

Ami's eyes widened imperceptibly as she fought to keep her expression neutral. Her heart beat faster in her chest as pieces of the puzzle started falling into place and hope began to grow.

"What happens in this dream?" she enquired casually, though her eyes remained alert to his tiniest gesture.

Zak scratched his head as he tried to find the right words to describe his dream, "Well, I'm, standing on a lake, there's snow falling all around me and in the distance I see this girl. She's dressed in a silk gown of some sort and when she turns to look at me I can see a sign glowing on her forehead. She's singing a song but it doesn't have words that I can understand and when I try to get closer to her she disappears. The sculpture I designed is based around the sign I saw on her forehead. It just felt right somehow when I was drawing it."

"It has to be you," Ami breathed, accidentally allowing the words that held her hopes and dreams slip past her lips.

"I'm sorry? What has to be me?" Zak asked, somewhat perplexed.

"When did you start having this dream?" she asked abruptly, ignoring his question.

Zak frowned in confusion at the shortness of her tone, but answered nonetheless, "Six months ago."

Ami beamed, realising that it was around that time when Darien had been revived with the other sailors and summoned the Golden Crystal, "I knew it!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

Zak held up his hands in a gesture of helplessness, "Knew what? Can you explain to me just what exactly 'you knew' because you are making no sense here?

Ami's demeanour suddenly changed and she rose from the bed. "To tell you the truth I do have something to tell you but I'd rather to show you instead."

Quickly she closed the door and drew the curtains on the window then pulled the privacy curtain around the bed. Zak was getting a bit nervous about all this.

"You're not going to do something weird are you?" he asked when he could stand it no longer, "Because I won't be a part of anything illegal."

Ami shook her head and smiled, "No it's nothing like that, don't worry." She finished checking and then ran a scan on her handheld computer. It confirmed that nothing that happened in the room would be visible outside so she turned towards Zak.

"Before I do this I just want to ask one question, do I look familiar to you?"

Zak was startled by the question because it embodied the thought that had been niggling at him for some time. "I'm not sure," he said, "Something inside tells me that I know you but I don't know where from."

"Then how about I jog your memory?" Ami held up her Mercury Crystal and whispered "Mercury Crystal Power!"

Zak's jaw dropped as streams of liquid light flowed out of the crystal, wrapping around Ami like a skin-tight whirlpool. They covered her legs, arms, torso and a thin stream even circled her head like a crown. The streamers glowed as they moved around Ami then suddenly blazed brighter than the sun, forcing him to close his eyes against their brilliance. When the light faded he opened his eyes to see standing in front of him the famous Sailor Scout of Water, Sailor Mercury.

Zak stood there dumbfounded yet at the same time another part if him was completely unsurprised. That part seemed to rejoice inside of him and he half stepped towards Mercury. He stopped when she smiled at him again then closed her eyes. Her transformation now took on a new form and mesmerized her watched as her sailor uniform dissolved into opaque water that flowed around her like a wave to solidify into a beautiful light blue gown.

Zak's knees gave way as he saw in real flesh and blood the girl who had haunted his dreams for the past six months……… and then she began to sing. The sound of her voice flowed over him like a breaking wave washing away his doubts and fears and in the magic of her voice a dam in his mind burst, overflowing his consciousness with memories of the past.


	2. Discord

_The first time he saw her she was sitting by a fountain in Queen Serenity's Palace during the Silver Millennium. She was singing to herself the same song her future self sang now, the same melody that reached deep into his heart and kindled a small fire of curiosity –why was it that such a beautiful girl sang such a sad song? As he came over she stopped singing and turned towards him surprised to find someone other than her here at such a late hour. It took her but a moment to recognise him yet her eyes betrayed no fear or distrust as the other courtiers had, _her_ eyes showed nothing but cool interest._

"_So you are Zoicite, one of Prince Endymion's Generals, I hope your stay thus far has been pleasant?" she asked._

"_That it has, Princess Mercury but after being graced by your illustrious presence it has now become sublime." _

_Mercury's mouth twitched as if she was trying to hold in a smile, "A very well delivered compliment My Lord Zoicite,"_

"_Why thank you My Lady, it was quite good wasn't it?"_

_Zoicite bowed and offered her his arm with a flourish "Would you mind terribly if I practiced my flattery on you further? You might be able to inform me of where I am erring for everyone here seems to be either afraid or suspicious of me, excepting your glorious self of course._

_At this Mercury truly smiled and gracefully placed her hand on his proffered arm, "I'd be delighted to assist you. No doubt you find our customs here on the Moon strange compared to those back on Earth."_

_That insignificant gesture began a chain reaction that changed both of their lives. Exchanging compliments and verbal fencing soon evolved into discussions that ranged from everything to science to philosophy once they discovered their shared passion for knowledge and its acquisition. _

_Philosophy led to tactics which resulted in chess matches that left even onlookers confused as exquisite dances were performed around the board by white and black chess pieces. At dinners and parties they often danced together, their faces the studied masks of political ambassadors to all observers yet many a time they were debating some obscure fact or another –only their eyes giving away the enjoyment they both felt at finally meeting a worthy opponent. _

_It was not for some months that Zoicite realised he was in love with her and even then it took him days to gather up the courage to confess. The other Generals and even Endymion himself encouraged and supported him so finally at one of the many evening balls he and Mercury were forced to attend he took her aside onto one of the private balconies and confessed his feelings to her. The expression on her face when he told her was one he would forever hold close to his heart. The unspeakable joy that shone through tear blurred eyes and the smile that seemed to light up his world told him everything he needed to know and the words she whispered to him confirmed his hopes._

"_I love you too." With tears of happiness running down her cheeks Mercury stepped into his arms and he held her close, for long minutes they stood that way before Mercury pulled away slightly and with a smile a thousand times brighter than the sun she pulled his head down and kissed him, softly and sweetly. _

_From that moment on they were as inseparable as the earth and sky, where one went the other followed and Queen Serenity allowed it, for she saw that the love shining in the hearts of both guardians was mirrored by the love between the people they protected: Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. The two had fallen in love almost at first sight and Queen Serenity knew the ways of her court, if she unofficially approved of the love between Mercury and Zoicite her court would recognise that it also extended to Serena and Endymion as well and thus would their love be nurtured and protected rather than torn apart before it had begun._

_For many months the two couples lived blissful lives. However news soon arrived of an evil growing on Earth and Endymion and his Generals were called back to their home in order to combat it. Zoicite and the other Generals arrived back on Earth to find civil war. Though they fought with all their might to make peace they were unable to end the unrest. Time and hardship saw the Earth's once breathtaking environment transform into barren wasteland; and then the final battle arrived._

_The last battle took place at very gates of Earth's capital city Terra, Queen Beryl used Metallia's power to level the castle and destroy the gates before marching into the city in victory. Only Endymion and his Generals remained, yet even they fell to her power. Sacrificing their lives and although they didn't know it then their souls, his four Guardians gave Endymion the time he needed to escape. As he was teleported to the safety of the Moon Kingdom Beryl's rage fell upon his Generals. In her wrath she destroyed their earthly bodies and with Metallia's power bound their souls to her will._

_One month later all of Earth was conquered and Beryl stretched out her hand towards the Moon. As the Sailor Scouts watched in horror she paraded the four Generals in front of them to demonstrate their power and changed natures. For the scouts it was a bitter blow but everyone believed in Queen Serenity's power and the redeeming magic of the Imperium Silver Crystal and so the Sailor Scouts went out to battle with their loves in a desperate attempt to save them._

_Mercury found Zoicite in the middle of a field covered with blood, his sword dripping with the red liquid while his clothes were stained the colour of rust from the drying blood of his victims._

"_So you finally found me, it took you long enough," he turned to her his eyes cold and empty._

"_Please, Zoicite," she begged, "Fight it, fight Beryl's power, I know you can do it. Please don't make me do this, don't make me destroy you."_

"_I truly am sorry Mercury."_

_Zoicite raised his sword into the guard position giving her a twisted and evil smile. "I might have cared for you once but Metallia's power holds a greater fascination for me than you. In honour of the love you still seem to bear for me I shall try to make your death quick, though I can not promise it will be painless."_

_And so they fought. For hours the battle lasted Mercury's magical mists often giving her time to rest and restore her strength as they hid her within their shrouds however it was never enough and Zoicite was as relentless as the sea. Eventually with a mighty blow Zoicite knocked her to the ground and she lay there gasping for breath. Seeing her drained of all strength he stepped back and laughed._

"_This is it Mercury, any last words?" he asked._

_Mercury saw the crystal blade forming above her heart, the dead men and women all around her and felt the stab of agony in her soul that told her another of her fellow scouts had died. 'I'm the last one' she thought and a single tear fell, running down her cheek. It caught the light of the stars, reflecting it back into Mercury's eyes so that as she closed them and the crystal blade pierced her flesh all she saw was light. Her mind recognised the power of the Silver Crystal as Queen Serenity drew on its power and it showed her a field of stars twinkling in a sky of velvet black, it shone in her minds-eye telling her what would happen in the future and was happening now, with her last breath Mercury whispered the words_

"_Zoicite, I love you, I …. still ….love you."_


	3. Harmony

Zoicite opened his eyes slowly, fearing that his life on Earth might have been only a dream created by Beryl to torture him. It wasn't, Ami leaned over him, sitting in the chair he'd occupied not ten minutes ago while he now lay on the bed.

"Good, you're awake." Ami helped him slowly sit up before handing him a glass of water to drink.

"Are you real?" he asked. "I'm not sure I can tell what's real or what's a dream anymore."

"Yes, I'm real and so are you." Ami took his hand as he set the glass down, her touch soothing and comforting, "You remember what I said back then, right before I died, back on the Moon?"

"Yes." Zoicite gripped her hand tightly in his own, fearing the next words he might hear.

"I still do you know, I still love you."

Zoicite heaved a great sigh of relief, "Then, you forgive me?"

Ami smiled the sweet loving smile he remembered so well and released his hands to raise his head and make him meet her eyes. What he saw there reminded him of why he loved this wise, beautiful, strong angel.

"Yes, I know it wasn't your fault, not even us Scouts could match her power. She killed us too you know. In the last battle with Beryl we gave our lives to protect Princess Serenity, to give her the chance she needed to defeat her and Metallia. The Silver Crystal turned back time and let us be reborn again and so here we are, living out our lives again here on Earth."

Ami pressed her forehead to his, "Will you live with me?"

Zoicite nodded, "Yes."

"Then let's go tell the others." Ami stood up and he got off the bed. But before they reached the door Zoicite stopped, catching her arm.

"Just one thing, can you call me Zoicite in private? My name is Zak in this life but I want you to remind me of who I was back on the Moon, I don't ever want to have to go through that again and remembering the mistakes I made back then will help me. Will you do that?"

Ami smiled up at him and hooked her arm through his, "Only if you call me Mercury."

Zoicite smiled back at her, his first real one in many months. He'd found his dream girl and so much more besides and he was never going to let her go, no matter what.

"Alright, let's go."

"Ami!" Serena shouted as she searched the crowd frantically for her blue haired friend, "The ceremony's over but she isn't here!" she turned to Darien, "You're the one who saw her last, where is she?"

Darien grabbed her arm before she ran off again and pulled her over to a seat, "I told you she has something she needs to do and someone she needs to talk to. Don't worry, she'll be back soon just be patient."

"But I'm worried about her!" Serena cried, "People are saying she fainted and some strange guy walked off with her." Her hands clenched into fists, "If he's done anything even the least bit improper I'm going to dust him," she swore, "Ami had better be safe."

"Don't worry Serena I'm right here." Ami walked around from behind a tree and pulled Zoicite with her, "There's someone I want you all to meet."

Zoicite slowly approached his Prince and Princess, Ami tugging on his hand. When Darien stood up to meet him he instinctively he dropped to his knees however Darien caught his arm before he did so and raised him up again.

"Do not kneel Zoicite, you have no need to. I am no longer the Prince of Earth, I am simply Darien as you are Zak." he said formally, for a moment taking on the aspect of Prince Endymion from long ago before returning to the Darien of now.

"But you will be the King of Earth one day," Zoicite protested "How can I not do you honour it is –"

"Alright buddy, who are you and what did you do to Ami?" Serena pushed Darien aside and marched up to Zoicite, sticking her face right up close to his face she glared at him. "You better have a good explanation buster or I'm gonna dust you here and now."

Zoicite was taken aback; this feisty girl was the famed Moon Princess, wielder of the Imperium Silver Crystal?

All of a sudden Zoicite started chuckling, then laughing. Tears of mirth ran down his face as he looked down at the diminutive blonde haired girl who was so fierce in the defence of her friend. The expression on her face slowly changed from anger to puzzlement as she looked closer at Zoicite and finally she clicked.

"Zoicite!" she shrieked.

Then Zoicite was bowled over as she slammed into him and gave him the biggest hug.

"It's you! You found us! You found Ami! Look guys it's Zoicite!" she waved excitedly to the rest of the group as they walked over, unsurprised to find that Serena was the centre of all the hubbub.

"Your Majesty, please!" Zoicite grabbed a hold of her arm and whispered urgently to her, "My name is Zak in this life, call me Zak not Zoicite or people will get suspicious."

"He's right Serena," Ami came over from where she'd been watching the chaos unfold, a mischievous grin on her face, "You can't call him Zoicite but nothing is stopping you from calling him Zaky."

"Zaky! I like it," Serena clapped her hands and hugged him again. "Welcome to our family Zaky!"

Zaky?" Zoicite was horrified, "You can't call me Zaky! That's a horrible nickname, think of something else!" he turned to Ami his face appealing but she shook her finger admonishingly at him.

"Only I'm allowed to call you Zoicite so everyone else has to call you by a different nickname. Serena has decided to call you Zaky and the Princess' word is law. Stop complaining or I'll think of something worse."

By then the rest of the gang had reached them and Nephrite and Jadeite immediately recognised their fellow General.

"Zoicite!" they cried and gathered around him drawing him away to go into a three-way conference about the protection measures needing to be taken around Darien and Serena. Darien threw his hands up in defeat already knowing that his Generals were plotting on their own like they had in the past and that he was obviously not going to convince them it was all unnecessary. Wisely he decided to wait and veto everything later when the excitement had died down.

The sailor scouts had all gathered around Ami and were demanding the full scoop about what had happened during the ceremony, where she had disappeared to and how she found Zoicite.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you everything on the way home. For now why don't we get our Leaver's Jackets and say goodbye to the teachers?"

"Alright but we want every detail Ami." Serena commanded imperiously before dragging her off with the other scouts to say their farewells while Darien smiled and nodded at his Generals until it was time to go.

That evening Ami and Zoicite told their friends everything and Zoicite was once again welcomed into the group. The gathering turned into an impromptu slumber party as the talk and reminiscing lasted well into the night. Parents were rung and permission given and as Ami and Zoicite sat together on the couch they knew that it wouldn't be long before the full team was gathered together once again.

Note: the majority of the conversation between Ami and Zak in the nurse's office was rewritten by Sarah85 after she edited my story, I would just like to give her credit for it and to thank her for her help.


End file.
